Pollution Mask Couture Makes Debut on Hong Kong Catwalk

A new line of outfits by designer Nina Griffee that incorporate face masks will debut at Hong Kong Fashion Week.

Face Slap and Vogmask

Fashionistas no longer have to choose between looking stylish and protecting their lungs.

Next week, Beijing- and Hong Kong-based designer Nina Griffee, owner of face-painting and body art company Face Slap, will introduce a new line of outfits that incorporate face masks on the runway as part of a collection at Hong Kong Fashion Week.

Even the designer, who was born in England, admits that the eight outfits she’s created to launch the line – which look something like burkas for the space age – might not be everyone’s cup of tea. “There’s a fine line between fashion and costume,” she says. “I’m not entirely sure we made it completely into the fashion category.”

Though it isn’t the first time models will have appeared on stage wearing masks, it appears to be the first time the effect is so deliberate.

The outfits incorporate Vogmask pollution masks—already a choice among many of the pollution cognoscenti as the most stylish face coverings—attached by a zipper to shawls, dresses and ponchos. The zipper allows the wearer to remove the mask to dine, for instance, while retaining the high-fashion look.

In one design, Ms. Griffee created a long, black evening gown that is complemented by an oversized black face mask, making the wearer look a bit like a cicada out for vengeance.

Face Slap and Vogmask

The designer says she found inspiration for the line when she was studying fashion and urbanomics at the Beijing branch of the Raffles Design Institute. “I was considering how an outfit can improve your quality of life,” she says. “Clothes can do a little bit more for you than just fit you.”

Chris Dobbing, Vogmask’s greater China director, says Ms. Griffee approached him about collaborating on the creations, an idea that he immediately loved. Vogmask currently sells Ms. Griffee’s masks, but not the complete outfits, on its website, including one designed to look like a hot pink gas mask, one with snake fangs and a red one with Chinese-style dragons.

He said he’s also encouraged her to branch out to create outfits for children since it’s often challenging to convince kids to keep their face masks on during high-pollution days.

“Of course, children get very self-conscious. If the mask is ugly, they will pull it off as soon as they get away from their parents,” he says. Fun outfits incorporating the masks could go over well, he adds.

Whether the different outfits will make a big splash in Hong Kong, where they’re making their debut, is still an open question. Ms. Griffee says some of her friends who’ve seen the outfits think they’re cool. “Some of them say, ‘That’s weird.’ I personally have mixed opinions on all of it.”

Besides the outlandish appearance, the looks are incongruous in another way too: they are mostly dark and cover the neck, shoulders and head—a look that could be suffocating in summer. Ms. Griffee admits that the looks would work better for the fall-winter collections rather than spring-summer, but she was pushing to get the idea to the public. She notes that the creations are made from a dry-fit fabric usually used in sportswear.

Her main goal was not to be gimmicky, she says. “I wanted something to work. Otherwise, it’s a little bit of hypocrisy. I don’t want to poke fun at pollution. I want something people can benefit from.”

Meanwhile, she has expanded her company to Macau and Hong Kong. Although her chief reason is to grow her business, the 27-year-old admits that Beijing’s notorious pollution has also played a role. “Beijing is amazing as a city, and it’s just so sad that the only complaint that I and many other people seem to have is the pollution.”